Editing Story:ROAD TRIP! (Warhammer High)/Part Two (section)

==Day Two==

===Message in a Bottle===


Alex sat down to breakfast a few hours later, dataslate gripped in hand.  His knuckles were white.  “Son of a bitch can’t tell when he’s not wanted,” he growled.

The doorknob rattled.  Alex quickly tabbed to a different page.  “Hey, baby, how you feeling?” he asked aloud.

“Our love can never be,” Jake replied, sticking his head in the door.  “Morning, man.”

“Fuck you, I’m fine,” Alex said.  Jake nodded once, man law upheld.  “You want to hit the gym?”

“No thanks.  This gravity is really getting to me.  I think I might just go for a run before the sun comes up.”  Jake appeared in the door to the tiny kitchenette of Alex and Freya’s more modest apartment.  “Are you all right?  You look pissed,” Jake said.

“I am pissed,” Alex snarled.

“Sorry, man.  You want to talk about it?” Jake asked carefully.  He had come to like the older man quite a lot in the preceding four months, but sometimes Alex’s temper got to him.

“Might as well,” Alex sighed.  “Look.”  He passed his slate to Jake, who spun it around to read.  “My father’s ‘passing by.’”

“So…he’s going to be here?” Jake asked.

“Oh yes.  The stupid son of a bitch,” Alex said darkly.

“Man, why do you hate your father so much?” Jake asked.

“Hate?  I don’t hate him.  I think he’s an insensitive, brutal, selfish whoremonger,” Alex said coldly.

Jake shifted uncomfortably.  Alex sighed.  “Man…do you remember meeting him at graduation?”

“Uh…briefly.  He was talking to you the whole time, so I didn’t really meet him,” Jake said.

“Do you remember meeting my mother?” Alex asked.

“No, he wasn’t with her, I don’t think.  He was with your sisters.”

Alex grimaced.  “I’m an only child.”

Jake was quiet for a few moments.  “…ew.”

“The man brought hookers to my fucking graduation.  With Primarchs’ daughters, a Space Marine or fifty, and an army of Treasury agents in the room,” Alex said with contemptuous disgust.  “He can go fuck cats.”

“Man…what do we do?” Jake asked.

Alex’s voice was ice.  “‘We?’”

Jake stood there silent.  Alex slowed his eyes and slowly ran his hands over his face.  “Sorry.  Let’s…let’s hit the gym.  I have bad feelings to burn.”  Jake nodded and fetched his gym bag.  He followed his friend down to the gym, wondering if there was anything he could do, and deciding that there really wasn’t.

The boys walked in as the girls were making off to the showers.  “Hey, guys,” Remilia said brightly.  “How are you?”

“Enraged,” Alex groused.  Remilia stared.

“Why?”

“Because my imbecile father, Lord Trader Joseph Kimball-Carlin himself, is at the edge of the system, having conveniently ‘arrived’ a few hours ago,” Alex said.

“Oh for fucks’ sake, didn’t you specifically tell the asshole to leave us alone on our road trip?” Remilia groaned.

“Yes, yes I did, a warning to which he paid precisely zero heed,” Alex said.

Venus walked up, towel slung around her neck.  “I can put paid to him if he does something stupid, Alex.  Trust me.”

“I know you will, Venus, and I’m sure it won’t come to th…what the fuck am I saying, he’s a Rogue Trader, he gets what he wants,” Alex said wearily.

Venus’ fingers tightened on the towel.  “Not in the sight of Prometheus, Alex,” she said softly.  Alex winced.

“I don’t want to cause trouble,” he said.

Venus grinned.  “You aren’t.  If he does…well, you’re hardly responsible.”

“Good,” Alex said.  Jake walked up behind him, eying the impressive gym.

Venus walked up to him as Freya and Alex continued discussing Lord Carlin with Remilia, trying to work things out.  With a deft flick of her towel, she snagged it behind his neck and pulled him into a kiss.  “Glad I got to see you before I left for the Hall of Deathfire,” she said.  “I’m off.”

He slid her towel off, smiling warily.  “And what pleasant and safe activities does one partake of in the…Hall of Deathfire?” he inquired.

“Forging molten gold in a volcanic stack-fuelled smelter,” Venus said happily.  “Home sweet home.”  Jake stared.


Several hours later, Venus was standing in the closest thing to her basement she had seen in two weeks.  The Forgedaughter was aptly dressed, as well, with short leather pants and a normal forge apron on.  A few other Salamanders were at work in the dark caverns, too, and all had paid her respectful heed.  Even serfs weren’t allowed here.

Venus was tapping a few tiny pieces of gold into shape at that moment.  Though her skin was a hundred times more sensitive to heat than that of the Salamanders beside her, she was far less vulnerable than a baseline human, and the sweat on her brow was exertion, not heat.

A few of the gene-modded warriors around her had cast approving looks her way as she worked, which cheered her considerably.  Approval was something she didn’t seek from many people, but never found unwelcome.  And the Salamanders, of course, were hardly strangers to her.

“Princess, you do us proud,” a voice beside her murmured.  She glanced up to see a towering Devastator passing by.

“Thank you, warrior,” she replied in Old Nocturnean.  The Salamander blinked.  She switched to Gothic.  “Sorry, force of habit.”

“I think you will find that aside from the Council, the Librarians, a few Chaplains, and about half the Drakes, none of us speak the Old tongues fluently,” the Devastator said, halting at her side.  “A shame, I know, but it’s just not needed much these days.”

“Hmm.”  Venus shielded her eyes as she poured a tiny drop of gold into a set.  “What brings you by, Brother?”

“Upgrades.  I need a new rail for my shoulder mount,” the Devastator explained.  “Diligent repair prevents ruinous failure, after all.”

“Wise words.  My Father’s?”

“They are the words of T’kell, the Artificer Lord, your father’s first Forgemaster,” the Devastator said, tapping his fingers on his cracked shoulder rail.  Venus peered at the metal pieces and saw where a chain-fed stubber would be mounted.

“I see.”  Venus returned to her labors, flicking a speck of ash off of the work surface.  “My arrival was either announced in advance, or Dad learned a few tricks of timing, because no sooner do I arrive than lo and behold, the smallest forge is available for use,” she said drily, gesturing at the forge at which she worked, which was, indeed, miniscule compared to the ones on either side of her.

“I think that was put there for Scouts who received their Carapace before their Plates,” the Devastator said.

“Whatever, it works,” Venus said.  She pulled the yellow Catseye from her pouch on the floor and measured it carefully.  “Hmm.  Bigger than it looks…”

“A new work of art, your Highness?” the Devastator asked through his helm’s speaker.

“No.  A gift.  Jake’s birthday is today.  I saw this in the markets the other day and thought of him in an instant.”  She ran some quick numbers in her head, deciding how much gold she would need.

“I see.”  The Devastator was silent for a moment.  “May I inquire as to the circumstances of your meeting, your Highness?”

“School.  Farah Manus introduced us,” Venus said.  “Cogitator Design class.”

“Is that right?  I didn’t know.”

“You disapprove,” Venus observed.

“I didn’t voice a single complaint, your Highness,” the Devastator pointed out.

“But you harbor them,” Venus said, still avoiding his gaze.

“…A few.”

“Name them.”

“It is inappropriate.”

“Doubting your leadership is always inappropriate, Devastator, I would hear your justification rather than assuming the worst,” Venus said.  She poured a few more drops of gold into the caster’s set and waited for it to cool, just a bit.

“He is not Nocturnean, your Highness.  We are.”

“The first batch of Salamanders were all Terrans.  So is the Emperor.  I lived there for fifteen years.  What’s your point?” Venus asked evenly.

“He can not know the Nocturnean way of life,” the Marine said.

“Why do you think I brought him to this hell-world on our vacation, Marine?  I want him to see it.  Not to give him a chance to back out – though he would if he truly thought it beyond him – but because I want him to understand a bit of my past, and my nature.  I will stay with him for years thanks to the educational arrangement we’ve made.  Is it my taste in men or my father’s judgment you question?” she asked, turning to meet his eyes at last.

The Devastator recoiled.  “I…Princess, this isn’t a slight against your choice.  I just want to have it elucidated.”

“Then what’s the issue?”  Venus gingerly pushed the mold away from the simmering, molten rock.  “You think my father didn’t make him jump hurdles?”

“I suppose he did.  I won’t pry.”

“Hmph.”  Venus set the mold aside to cool and pulled another from the pile on the left.  “Too big for a ring…he doesn’t wear necklaces…ooh, I know.”

The Devastator noted a streak of gray on her bare back in the flare of light from the volcanic forge; it was only faintly visible in the dim light, but it was unobscured by the apron’s tie.  “Are you injured, your Highness?”

“Injured?  What?” Venus risked him a glance.

“Your back is scarred, your Highness.”

“Ah.  Yes.  There’s a branding shrine in the house on Terra.  What you see is a product of misdirected zeal I will discuss no further,” Venus said flatly.

“Understood.  I apologize for my intrusion.”

“Indeed.  See you around, Devastator,” Venus said, putting the discomforting conversation firmly aside.

“Your Highness,” The Salamander said, backing up a respectful pace, before moving to another forge elsewhere in the volcanic labyrinth.

Venus shook her head, setting her ponytail sliding over her back.  “I suppose I can’t blame him,” she said under her breath.


===The City===

Alex sat down at the table he had selected for lunch and tried not to make eye contact with any of the people around him.  The little group of Terrans and iceworlders were drawing a few stares in the little tavern they had picked, but most people were just ignoring them.  Freya was trying to extract more information about his father from him.  “Your Dad, you think he’s going to come here and get you?” Freya asked.

“I sincerely hope not, for his sake,” Alex said darkly.  He nursed his drink and glared into its depths.  “If he’s smart he won’t even contact me.”
No sooner had he said that than the vox at his waist vibrated.  Alex grabbed it, flipping it open.

“You get reception on the local network?  I don’t,” Freya said.

“I shouldn’t, unless it’s a frequency a family member has,” Alex groaned.  “Damn him.”  He stood from the table and marched out of the tavern, gripping the vox in his hands.

He emerged into the blazing red sun and pressed the call button.  “Hello?”

“Alex, good to hear from you!” his father boomed.  “How are you?”

Alex drew a weighted breath, let it out slowly.  “Just fine.  Yourself?”

“Awful, but that’s a story for later.  Do you know if there’s a Mechanicus station in Nocturne?”

“A Mech…yeah, of course there is, at the edge of the system.  And a single sensor pulse would have made it clear,” Alex said, surprised.  “What’s wrong?”

“Like I said, long story.  You go have fun.  I’ll talk to you later.”  The call cut off.

Alex stared at the vox in his hand, surprised.  “The fuck?”

After a few finishing inscriptions, the present was almost done.  Venus beamed at the results of her handiwork.  “Awesome.  He’ll love it,” she said.  She wiped some sweat from her hands with a rag and hunched over the alloyed gold and stone assemblage.  “Hmm…gonna need to find someone in town who can finish it…”

One quick rinse and change of clothes later, Venus was scurrying through the substantial craftworks market in the city, gift components in hand.  Having located the shop listed in her quick perusal of the local directory, she arrived at the unassuming little shop.  After an impressively short wait, the gift was assembled.  She held it up to the light in the little store and inspected it.  “Perfect.”  She turned to the craftsman behind the counter and paid up as fast as she decently could, and hauled ass to the tavern they had selected for lunch.

She arrived just as Alex finished his perplexing call.  “Alex!” she called as she approached.

He turned on his heel and spotted her, waving.  “Hey!  Glad you could make it!”

She came to a halt a few feet away, gift box concealed in her bag.  “What’re you doing out here?”

“Taking a weird call,” Alex said, pocketing his phone.  The thermo gear he was wearing made him stand out even more than his pale Terran skin, but at least he didn’t feel like he was dying any more.  “My father’s apparently not here for me at all.  Or, he was, and his ship broke.  Or something, fuck, I dunno.  He asked if there was a Mechanicus station nearby.  I told him about the one in the Oort cloud.”

“Well, good, because that’s the only one.”  Venus looked over her friends’ thermoreflective gear.  If she tilted her head right, she could see the light glimmer off the metal and fiber strands under the thin fabric.  “Your thermo kit looks good.”

“Thanks.”  He shifted his shoulders a bit as they walked into the tavern.  “I was worried that it’d make me stand out even more.”

“Well, who cares if you do,” Venus said.  “You’re a guest here.”

“People have been glaring at me since I arrived,” Alex said.  Venus cocked an eyebrow.

“Show me.”  She paused just before the door to the seating area.

Alex walked up to the table where the others were sitting and sat down as normal, joining the conversation the others were having.

Sure enough, several patrons stopped to stare or glower.  As soon as Venus walked in, however, the looks vanished, replaced with surprise or reverence.  She shook her head as she crossed the room.  “Troubling,” she said quietly.

“Hey, there she is,” Freya said as Venus approached them.

Venus paused to slide her arms around Jake’s neck as she stopped at the table.  “Hey, guys.  How was your morning?”

“Getting to see the Grand Highway was awesome,” Jake said.  “I wish all the roads in the hives were that well-maintained.”

“That would be good,” Venus said, kissing the crown of his head and sliding into a seat.  The whole room stared.

Remilia downed her drink and caught the waiter’s eye.  “I’m glad you’re here.  Dare I inquire why there’s soot on your bandana?”

“Not until after the party tonight,” Venus said.  “I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”  She daubed a few drops of water on the bandana and rubbed it clean.  “Good catch, though.”

Venus’ vox buzzed.  She grabbed it out of her pocket and stared at the ID.  “It’s…it’s the Tide.”  She opened it up and muttered into it.  “Hello?”

“My Lady Venus, this is Comm Officer Wainwright.  A Rogue Trader aboard the vessel Corundum Star has just arrived in-system and is burning for the Mechanicus station at the Oort cloud.  Shall we hail the ship?”

“No, I knew it was coming.  Just let me know if it breaks for a new heading,” she said quietly.

“Aye aye.  Iron Tide out.”  The line went dead.

“Well, it seems the Star is headed for that station,” Venus said.  The waiter took her order and replaced Remilia’s drink.

“Good, he’ll be out of the way,” Alex grumbled.  “Trust me, if he comes planetside, he WILL make this entire journey all about him.”

“With any luck, we’ll be long gone,” Remilia said.


===Happy Birthday, Jake===

As the afternoon swung by, the group visited the city walls.  The colossal structure encircled the whole city, brooding over its citizens like a scowling parent.  The air up here was so windy that the party had to use caution crossing open stretches of wall, or be bowled over by the gusts.

All five donned sunglasses for the journey.  They stared in silence over the plains of the Pyre desert, gazing in astonishment at the infinite fields of ash.

Remilia shielded her glasses from her blowing hair.  “It’s…horrible.  An entire portion of the continent…dead.”

“The entire planet, or close to it,” Venus replied.

Their guide, a star-struck young PDF Sergeant, eagerly showed them where the dunes were flat enough that the curvature of the horizon was plainly visible.  “It’s like the ice caps of Fenris out there, only even more dead,” Freya remarked.

“Except for that.  What’s moving out there?” Jake asked, pointing south over the grey ashes.

The Sergeant squinted.  “I think it’s a Land Speeder."

“I thought you guys didn’t use those,” Jake said to Venus.

“We use them all the time, just as a small proportion of our force composition,” she said.  “I’d bet money that that’s a passenger variant, corralling Initiates on a trial.”

“In these deserts?  Harsh,” Alex commented.

“Can’t have Salamanders that can’t take a little heat.  And flesh-dissolving sulfur pits and Sa’hrk nests.”  Venus shrugged.  “Trust me, it’s better this way.”

By dinner, the group was back in the castle and thoroughly sunburned.  Jake eased back into the chair in the middle of the sitting room, gingerly rubbing lotion into his scorched hiver skin.  “Okay, ow.”

“SPF Fifty can not withstand the power of your girlfriend’s hellacious sun,” Freya observed.  Damn her, her skin was already healing.

“I was fine yesterday!” Jake protested.

“We weren’t standing above all those nice, radiation-obscuring walls yesterday,” Freya pointed out.  She lifted the menu as the voice on the other end asked her a question.  “Yes, we will, thanks.  No, I’ll come get it.  Great, I will.  Bye.”  She set the vox down.  “Food’ll be ready in half an hour.”

“Superb.”  Alex kicked back in his own chair, swigging his sparkling water.  “So…is it time?”

“I believe it is,” Remilia said, sitting down across from Jake.  “Well…Happy Birthday,” she said, passing him a card.

“Oh, for goodness’ sakes, guys, is it guilt trip time already…oh my,” Jake said, upon seeing the store printed on the card.  “…Good call.  This will get spent within seconds of arriving on Terran soil, I assure you,” he said.  “Keller’s Electronics is the best retail electronics chain in the Solar system.”  He spotted the amount and nearly gagged, but kept his sudden reluctance suppressed.  This was probably only a week’s allowance for her.  “Thank you so much, Remilia.”

The pretty blond grinned happily.  “I knew you’d like it.”

“Am I up?” Alex asked.  He slid a tiny grey box across the table.  “Eyes sharp, now.”

“Eyes…oh.”  Jake didn’t even open the box, instead sliding it neatly into his lap.  “Indeed.  The pact is sealed.”

“What?” Venus asked, eyeing them both curiously.  They turned to give her a solemn look.

“He has passed along powerful knowledge I cannot share with you.  Trust me.  All will become clear,” Jake said gravely.

Venus looked from one stone-faced teen to the other.  “…Did I just witness a drug deal?”

“Oh no no, nothing illicit,” Alex said hastily.  “Just private.  Also,” he added, sliding a much larger box over to his friend.  “I saw this and knew.”

“Oh yeah, you did,” Jake said, prying it open.  A brand new vox sat inside, cushioned in a wide-brimmed hat that Jake suspected would fit him perfectly.  “Excellent.  Thanks, Alex.”

“Enjoy,” Alex said, sitting back in his seat.

Freya nearly slammed a black leather case on the table.  “I think this will come in handy if we can’t find what I think we might find on the Tide on the next leg of the road trip,” she said eagerly.

“Excellent!” Jake laughed, flipping the metal latches on the case open.  “This is perfect!”  Inside was a dice set, two shrink-wrapped packs of cards, and six full sets of clay playing chips.  “Oh, fantastic.  Freya, this is awesome.”

“I suspected you’d like it,” Freya happily said.  “The trip will be more fun with me cleaning you guys out every night.  I mean, playing every night.”

“Hurr hurr.”  Jake closed the case and slid it under his seat.  “Well I love it.  Thanks.”

Venus leaned over to him and passed him a small stone box.  “And here’s where I was this morning,” she said.  Jake opened the box –

“It’s beautiful!” he breathed.  He reached in and extracted a gold wristwatch.  He held it up to the light and the alloyed gold band glimmered under the lights and Venus’ proud stare.  “Venus, this is amazing.  Did you make this entire thing yourself?” he asked.

“No, no, of course not, watchmaking goes straight over my head,” she assured him.  “All I made was the wristband, the chain, the clip, and the stone’s setting.”

“What stone?” he asked.  He turned the watch over.  “Oh.  It’s awesome!” he exclaimed.  Venus had cut a tiny channel down the back of the Catseye and set the buckle of the wristband into it, so it covered the buckle slightly.  A tiny hinge set into the bottom of the stone allowed the wearer to turn the stone slightly and fasten the band on under it, then move it back into place and clip it to a tiny clasp on the prong of the buckle, giving the illusion that the stone was holding it in place.  “You made this too?” he asked.  Also in the box were a length of gold chain, a small clip, and a pack of atomic batteries.

She demonstrated how to remove the back panel of the watch and slide the battery in, and how to remove the band and attach the chain or clip instead.  Jake stared at it, entranced.  “It’s magnificent, Venus!  Thank you so much,” he said, kissing her on the cheek.  “I have to be wearing this when I get home!  Dad would love to see this, his father made watches in his free time at the Seminary.”

“Cool,” Venus said.  “I hope you like it.  I remembered that Catseye is your birthstone.”

“June…yeah, Catseye.  Awesome,” he said, staring at the glittering band.  The watch itself was blank save the hands and a single tiny quartz embedded where the 12 would be.  “Is this…wait, is this Terran or Nocturnean time?” he asked.

“Terran,” Venus said.

“Wow.  Wow.”  Jake slid it on and fastened it.  “I love it.  Is it set?”

“No, but you can set it to your vox,” Venus pointed out.

“True.”  He did so, then held it to his ear and smiled as he heard the tiny mechanism turning.  “Thank you, baby.”

Freya waited until the exchange was over before tapping her present.  “All right…you want to break in these cards?” she asked.

“Hell yeah,” Jake said, putting the watch accessories back in the box.  “But not until after we eat, I think.  Don’t want to get them greasy.”

“True facts,” Freya said, standing up.  “I’ll go get it.”

She walked out of the room, stopping to grab an ID card and a money chip before she did.  As she left the suite, she heard Remilia duck into her own room.

===Rough Encounter===

The streets below were congested with people.  The Space Wolf effortlessly navigated the crowd, glancing at street signs until she found the restaurant she had called.  Popping in and finding it packed wall-to-wall, she found a spot in line and settled in to wait.

“Can you believe it?  Another smash-and-grab,” someone in the room muttered.  Freya extended her hearing to that little corner of the room.

“I know.  Was it the same guy?”

“Yes.  They didn’t get a picture, but it was him.”

“Worthless criminal vermin,” the second voice grumbled.

“I know, right?  Fucking Terrans.  They come here expecting the lap of luxury on a Legionary homeworld and rob people when they don’t get it,” the first replied.  Freya risked a glance at the speakers through the crowd.  The first was a stocky man in the robes and hat of a whaler, the second a surveyor for the mining teams by the gear at his belt.

The second one noticed her glance and stared back, glowering.  Freya turned away.  “Something to say, Princess?” the man muttered under his breath, clearly not knowing she could hear him.

Freya clenched her fingers until her nails cut her palm.  She wondered darkly if the man knew the title he had used was actually accurate, and decided he probably didn’t.

She reached the counter at long last and smiled thankfully at the man behind it.  “Order…” she glanced at the note she had scribbled.  “8875.”

“Here you are,” the man said, reaching under the counter and passing her the hefty bag of food.

“Great, thanks,” she said, lifting it and offering up her payment, and a generous tip.  She glanced over the receipt – all accounted for – and made to leave.

“Hang on,” the man said, looking at the tattoos on her bare arms.  “You’re not-”

She turned on her heel and pressed her finger to her lips with a wink, then bounced off.  The man stared at her as she left, but the pressing crowd bade him back to work.

Safely outside, Freya looked at her cut hand to make sure the cut hadn’t bled on the bag.  It hadn’t.  The tiny slit was already healing.  She blew out a sigh of relief.  “Good.”

“Excuse me,” a voice at her shoulder asked.  She turned to see an Enforcer standing behind her.  “Have you seen this man?”  He lifted a blurry holo of a man with a gun sprinting away from the camera.

Freya blinked.  “No.  Why do you ask?”

“Because the man in question is guilty of at least two armed robberies, he’s dangerous, and he’s gone to ground hereabouts,” the Enforcer said flatly.  “Please let the nearest Enforcer know if you see anything.”

“This close to the castle?  What, is he dumb?” Freya chuckled.

“One hopes, we’ll get him faster that way.”  The Enforcer curtly nodded.  “Stay safe, ma’am.”

Freya shrugged at his retreating back and started the trip back to the castle.  As soon as the Enforcer was out of sight, however, something black snaked in front of Freya’s leg, and she stumbled.

“Shit!  Sorry about that,” a voice said.  Someone grabbed her shoulder.  She instinctively pulled free and took a step back.  “Did I trip you?”

Freya glanced over the other person.  A ragged-looking man in ill-fitting dark workers’ clothes and black steel-toed boots was standing there, looking at her funny.  “Yes.  Goodbye,” Freya said, resuming her walk to the castle.

“Sorry,” the man called after her.  Freya paid him no need, thinking.  She wasn’t sure, but that had felt deliberate to her.  He didn’t look a thing like the man in the holo.  She checked her pockets, clothing…nothing was missing.  Her money was present.  Her ID card was there.  Her vox was there.  So, he wasn’t a pickpocket?

She mentally shrugged as she put it aside.  Whatever.  It could wait.  She was hungry.

Remilia returned to the room with the others, concealing a bottle behind her back.  She sat back down at the table, listening as Venus described the Hall of Deathfire.  “The forges aren’t equidistant, we just put them wherever the lava breaches the floor, so some are really far apart.  And the GALLERIES!  If I show you nothing else in my time here, I have to show you the galleries.  There’s stuff on those walls art merchants would kill for.  Technological and aesthetic art, all of it.”

“Sounds amazing, but I don’t think we should go.  We ought to respect the Salamanders’ privacy,” Remilia said.

“I think they would be…hmm.  Well, I don’t know.  Some, I suspect, would be honored to have you, but I think most would resent it,” Venus said regretfully.

Remilia set the bottle down on the table with a discreet cough.  “Who’s thirsty?”

Alex turned to see Remilia popping the cork on the bottle of Saerbis champagne.  “Oh, hey.  I could stand a drink.  Where did you find it?”

“Brought it with me,” Remilia said.  “Enjoy.”

“Excellent.”  Venus held out her empty water cup and let her cousin pour her a cup of the bubbly amber drink.  “Happy Birthday,” she said, clinking her cup with the others’.

“Oh yeah, I’m somewhat legal now!” Jake said, taking a sip.  He immediately pulled a face and struggled to swallow.  “For what it’s worth,” he added.

“Not to your taste?” Remilia asked.

“No offense, but how do people drink this stuff?” Jake asked.

“It’s an acquired taste,” Alex admitted, sipping his.  “This is also…very fucking strong.  Whoo.”

“I see.”  Jake eyed his cup and placed it on the table.  “I’ll pass, thanks,” he said.

The door swung open.  Freya bounced in, arms laden with food.  “Hail, for it is dinner and I bear sustenance!” she declared, dropping the bag on the table.

“Indeed,” Jake said, eagerly grabbing his meal.  “Thanks, guys.  This is the best birthday I’ve had in ages.”

“No problem, brother,” Alex said, downing some more champagne.

The group set about their food, and Freya relayed the story of the strange journey to the restaurant.  “It felt deliberate.  From the way he was standing, he would have had to move his leg pretty far to trip me.  And he grabbed my shoulder.  I think he might have been checking to see if I had a wallet on me,” Freya said.

“Despicable,” Venus grumbled.  “Did the Enforcer see it?”

“Nope, he was gone.”

“It seems the drywall has begun to rot in the Drake King’s absence,” Venus muttered darkly.  “If we weren’t on vacation, I’d put paid to this little crime spree.”

“Priority one when we get back, then,” Jake said.  Venus looked up at him from her sandwich.

“You mean that?”

Jake shrugged.  “Sure.”  Venus smiled into her food, profoundly touched.

“Well…anyway, the guy at the counter recognized me,” Freya said.  “He was the only one.  So I think we’re probably good.”

“Has anyone been harassed by paparazzi since they arrived?” Venus asked.

“Nope.  But then, we’ve been with armed guards the whole time,” Jake pointed out.

“Very true.”

===Poker Faces===

After the food was gone, Jake retrieved the case and opened a pack of cards.  “All right, what do you want to play, folks?” he asked, lifting the fresh deck.  “How about simple poker, keep it straightforward?”

“Works for me,” Freya said, picking up a stack of chips. “Hmm…white is one, red is five, green is ten, blue is twenty five, purple is fifty.”

“All right,” Jake said.  He pulled the jokers and rule cards out, then split and shuffled the deck with speed and casual ease that gave most of the others pause.  He smiled blandly as he dropped a few chips into the pot.  “Come on, who’s in?”

“I am suddenly filled with dread,” Remilia announced.  Jake smirked.

As the sun dipped low behind the horizon, and the game wore on, Remilia, Venus, and Alex dropped out one by one, until only Freya and Jake, the gamblers, were left.  For such a tactile and outgoing person, Jake noted, Freya had an unnervingly straight poker face.

She watched his hands as he lifted two more cards and slid them into his hand.  Her eyes darted up to his face as he looked at what he had drawn.  His heart leaped.  He had drawn the five.  He had the straight.

“I’m in two hundred,” he said, sliding some chips in.

“See your two, raise you one fifty,” Freya instantly said.

Jake nodded slowly.  “Call.”  He slid a few more chips in.

Freya offered up a feral grin and laid her hand out.  “Six-high straight!” she announced.  “Beat that!”

“Okay,” Jake said nonchalantly.  He dropped his cards out on the table.  “Nine-high straight.”

Freya’s face contorted as the others chuckled.  “Son of a BITCH!”  She slammed her cards down as Jake scooped up the pot.  She glared at the cards that had betrayed her.

Jake smiled wanly.  “So who taught you how to play?” he asked as he sorted his chips and shuffled the cards.

“My father used to play with a few Army and Astartes buddies,” Freya said.  “He taught me.  How about you?”

“My friends from middle school.  We would play during every lunch and study hall,” Jake said.

“Hmph.  Well, you’re good.  I don’t even see your tells half the time,” Freya conceded.  “And coming from me, that says a lot.”

“It does,” Jake agreed.  “Let’s see…this is your last hand, innit?” he asked, eyeing her stack.

“It may well be,” she said gravely.  She picked up her cards and chipped her ante in.

Jake glanced over his cards.  Nothing spectacular, just a pair of fours.  “All right, I’m in,” he said, chipping ten into the pot.

Freya met his bet and chucked three cards.  Jake did the same.  Freya looked over her hand and looked up at him, blank-faced.  “I’ll open.  Forty,” she said, dropping a fifty into the pile and removing a ten.

“See your forty, raise you twenty five,” he said, dropping some more chips into the pile.  Freya hesitated, searching his face, and nodded.

“All in,” she said, pushing her remaining thirty into the middle.

The others leaned forward as both set down their hands.  Freya had a pair of aces with a king, Jake had three fours.

“Argh!  I am slain!” Freya groaned, slumping back into her chair and clutching her heart.

“Just as planned,” Jake said mildly.  He scooped up the last chips and cards.  “Nice game, guys, that was a lot of fun.”

“I was taking it easy on you,” Freya grumbled, shaking his hand with every sign of reluctance.

“Of course you were,” Jake soothed.

Remilia stood and stretched.  “Well, as fun as that was, I’m turning in.  We have a lot of walking on the itinerary tomorrow, I need to rest.”

“Me too,” Alex said, weaving a bit as he stood.  “Man, that’s strong stuff,” he said, waving at the empty bottle of champagne.

“Thanks for everything, guys, that was a great birthday,” Jake said contentedly, clipping the box of chips shut.  “And Venus, baby…the watch.  Seriously.  Awesome.  You’ll understand if I don’t wear it around, right?  During tourist-time, I mean?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said.  She stood too, and cleaned the detritus of their meal away.  “All right…I’ll see you all tomorrow.  Alex, if your father bothers you too much, really, tell me about it.  One snap of my fingers and he’s out of our hair.”

“I want him inconvenienced, not liquefied, but thanks,” Alex said.  He grabbed his own effects and headed out.  “See you guys tomorrow.”

“Bye, Happy Birthday Jake!” Remilia said, shutting the door behind her.

Jake sank into his chair and pulled the watch back out, staring at it.  Venus leaned over him and wrapped her arms around his neck.  “I’m so glad you like it.”

“This is the kind of watch people on Terra go to interstellar trade shops to buy,” Jake said.  “It’s amazing.  I really have to show Dad.”

Venus put the watch back in the little stone box and clipped it shut.  “Go get ready for bed, baby, Remilia’s right.  We have a lot of walking to do tomorrow.”

“Yeah?  What have you got planned?” Jake asked.

“We’re going to going to tour the markets a bit,” Venus said.  “Then, I want to show you guys the craftwork district where the city hubs are.”

“Cool.”  Jake stood and piled his presents on the table.  “Man.  I know I shouldn’t…I do.  But that card from Remilia…yikes.”

“How much?” Venus asked.  Jake passed her the card.  Venus’ eyebrows rose when she saw the number.

“…Generous.”

“No kidding.”

“Jake,” Venus said flatly, making eye contact with him.  “I hereby order you to not feel guilty.”

“…Okay,” Jake slowly replied.  “Whatever you say.”

“Good.”  Venus nodded primly.  “Now…get ready for bed.”

Alex finished up into the bathroom and emerged into the darkened bedroom.  He weaved his way across the room and fell face-first into the bed.

“…Little drunk?” Freya asked from the pitch-black room.

“Lil’ bit.”  Alex groaned.  “This was a huge mistake.”

“Featherweight,” Freya snorted, waving the lights up.  And she had been all ready to play, too.

“Ungh.”

“You gotta barf?”

“No, just sleep for eight hours,” Alex moaned.  “I’ve turned off the vox and switched off the room line, so no disruptions.”

“Good.”  Freya slid into bed and gingerly rubbed his back.  “Uh.  Sleep tight?”

“I hope,” Alex said.

===Mail Call===

Forgefather Vulkan leaned back against the frame of his balcony door and smiled.  The slate in his hands was downloading a status message from Venus for their trip.  He had just been wondering whether she had arrived safely.  The timing was perfect.

“News?” Leman Russ asked.  He and his wife Gairwyn had come over for an evening supper when the message had arrived.  Fortunately for them both, Lord Dorn had been there for an unrelated strategy meeting at the same time.  All three Primarchs could hear the news.

“Yes,” Vulkan said, thumbing the biometric swipe on the slate.  A decrypted message appeared.  “Excellent.  You want to hear?”

“Sure,” Russ said, walking back into the study.  Dorn was just standing up to go when he returned.  “Hey.  Letter from the girls,” he said.

His white-haired brother turned back.  “Oh?  What do they say?”

“Let’s find out,” Vulkan said.  He sat down behind his desk in the large study and started reading.  “’Dad, we’re safe on Nocturne.’ Safe is in quotation marks.  Wiseass,” he muttered.  Russ chuckled.

“‘The trip was went as well as hoped.  You picked a good ship; Roemer’s a decent officer.  One thing, though: he thought Alex and Jake were Royal family members, even though the manifest said otherwise.  Any ideas?’”  Vulkan slowly shook his head.  “Nope.  Never even met the man.”

“‘The trip was uneventful.  Freya picked the officers clean at the dartboard,’” Vulkan continued.

“Hah!  That’s my girl,” Russ laughed.

“‘Fair warning: some really dumb guy in the gym made a holorecording of Freya and Remilia sparring.  Freya casually mentioned throwing him out of an airlock and he deleted the recording, but it might pop up again.  Thought you might need to know,’” Vulkan read.

“If it does, somebody’s going to ‘volunteer’ themselves to be turned into a combat servitor,” Dorn said darkly.

“‘In that vein, remember Isaac?  He was my old kickboxing instructor.  He’s on the ship, and we sparred today.  Seven years of losses avenged.  Payback’s a bitch,’ and then a whole lot of angry smile emoticons,” Vulkan said.  “Heh.  They’re like an old married couple, I swear,” he laughed.
“When was this sent?” Russ asked.

“A few hours back…which seems oddly fast, but it’s a tiny file,” Vulkan said.  “Anyway…‘Upon arrival, Uncle Ir’Sem’ – my Fourth Company Captain, a very good friend of Venus’ ” he explained – “‘formally greeted me and we exchanged the Icon, then took us on a quick tour of the place.’” Vulkan paused.  “…This next part’s for my eyes, brothers.  I’ll skip ahead,” he said.  Dorn and Russ nodded solemnly.  They understood.  “‘By the time we were finally ready to go, it was pouring acid rain down in Hesiod.  We had to land in the Castle itself, which worked out fine anyway.  Alex and Jake both nearly collapsed from heatstroke, though, Dad, I’m worried.’  That does sound bad…good thing they packed thermo kit,” Vulkan said.

“‘Remilia and Freya are from Inwit and Fenris, so they weren’t much better off.  Iceworlders, what are you going to do?  Fortunately, they’re built for it, and they seem to be handling it well.’”

“Damn right,” Dorn said.

“‘The speech was public, unfortunately.  I thought it went well, though.  I included a recording.  On that note, Dad, holy shit my formal uniform is awesome.  Did you design this?  Next time I complain about the responsibilities of the family, remind me that my formal uniform includes a Conflagration Gun and a Power Rapier.  Plus a crown I could hock to buy my own ship if I wanted,’ and if you ever do, young lady, you’re joining a Penal Legion,” Vulkan added under his breath.  Russ laughed again.

“‘On that note, ''Dad'',’…uh oh, the Dad is in italics,” Vulkan said.  “‘Funny how I had to learn from Fletsun’ – my Master of Sanctity – ‘about our shared gene-core issue.  Why did you never see fit to tell me about it?’”

Vulkan coughed.  Russ and Dorn both looked at him askance.  “…Forget she said that.  I suspect she may have misinterpreted something that happened while she was there,” he lied.  “Skipping ahead a bit…ah.  ‘Today was Jake’s birthday, and it was a lot of fun.  Thank goodness the drinking age here is seventeen...’ oh damn it,” he muttered.

“Drinking ages.  How ‘civilized,’” Russ said sarcastically.

“Bite me.”  Vulkan read more of the letter.  “‘I made him a watch in the Hall of Deathfire, which despite the name, was perfectly safe.  I was vaguely disappointed.’  Har har har,” Vulkan said drily.  “If you had been there three thousand six hundred years back, honey, you would have had to kill a drake on the way to the door.  ‘Freya got him a leather poker set with clay chips, which he immediately put to use by fleecing the hell out of us.’”
“A man after my own heart,” Russ said with a grin.

“‘Remilia got him a gift card to Keller’s Electronics, which is perfect because he was thinking about making a new gaming rig before we go off to school.  Alex got him some…thing.’  She put the ellipsis there, not me,” Vulkan said.  “‘Seriously, I can’t get either of them to tell me what it was.  We played poker until midnight and he kicked the crap out of us.  Remind me to take him with me to Carshim or some other casino planet some time.  And you should see the work he’s putting in at the gym.  I’m so proud.’”

“I think I like this kid,” Dorn said drily.

“‘Before I forget, though, there’s one thing here that sort of bothers me.  Well, two.  First is that people are assuming Jake and I are already married.  Apparently that contract with you he signed to work at Kouthry and live with me was interpreted inaccurately.  We’ve cleared it up, but how did people here even find out?’  Search me, I haven’t even told all of you,” Vulkan said, glancing up at his brothers.

Russ shrugged.  “Who would I tell?”

“I didn’t know,” Dorn said truthfully.

“Hmm.  Oh well.  ‘The other one is sort of more pressing.  Apparently there’s been a huge surge in smuggling, pickpocketing, and armed robbery around here, and the blame falls squarely on foreign tourists and some gang calling themselves The Underground.  Is this something I should address?’  Hell no, leave that to me.  You go have fun,” Vulkan said under his breath.  “‘Apropos of nothing, I’m so glad Remilia came.  She feels a little intrusive here, but she’s so much more relaxed now, and we both feel better than we have since before Morticia.  Speaking of, how is she?  Did she get off to Albiona okay?  How about Angela and that book she was writing?  Is Farah’s little vacation kicking off already?  How about Miranda’s and Hana’s vacations to Carshim and Aldric?’  I should mention that in my reply,” Vulkan muttered.

“Far as I know they all left all right.  What’s this about Angela writing something?” Russ asked.

“Angela wanted to write something as part of the Scholastica’s public school programs, I think, something about how new schools should deal with students’ psychic power manifesting while they’re still students,” Dorn said.  “Ask Sanguinius about it.”

“Hmm.”  Vulkan read down some more.  “‘The people here welcomed me with open arms, Dad.  It’s so nice.  You should return here more often, people are tripping over themselves for a chance to meet the Royal family.  We went to lunch in a nice cafeteria yesterday and people were staring at us the whole time, which doesn’t seem so odd until you remember that the Salamanders live here amongst them all the time.  Freya, on the other hand, was nearly pickpocketed at a restaurant this evening.’”

“What?” Russ growled.

“‘At least, she thinks it was a deliberate bump.  Who knows?  They didn’t take anything.  On a nicer topic, though, two more days in Hesiod, then four in each city until we reach Skarokk.  Six days there, then back on the Tide and off to Fenris.  I know we were going to take a different ship, but apparently the greenskin vermin are pressing the Navy assets along the Void Walks trade lane pretty damned hard, so we’re taking the Tide instead.’”  Vulkan tapped his chin.  “Hmph.  Things are getting worse out there.”

“Perhaps I will take the Phalanx out to those lanes and oversee the efforts of the Navy in person.”  Dorn leaned back in his seat.  “I will await Remilia’s return, though.”

“Good.”  Vulkan read to the end of the message and smiled to himself.  “She included a picture of herself in her formal uniform.  Want to see?”

“Why not,” Russ said.  “Put it up on the screen.”  Vulkan tapped a few runes and the image appeared on a flatscreen on the wall behind him.

She was standing in the hall outside her room, crown tucked under one arm, and her free hand resting on the hilt of the Conflagrator.  Russ looked at the picture.  “She looks good.  It suits her.”

“It certainly does,” Vulkan said with quiet pride.  Her lips were quirked up in a smile, clearly she had been talking to whomever was behind the camera.  He tabbed to the next picture, also of her, this time from the square where she had given the speech.  She was in her crown and speaking, clearly caught up in the moment.  “And she says she can’t speak in public.”

“She’s just modest.”  Russ waved his hand.

“Yeah.  She included a transcript of the speech in here…and messages for Farah and Hana.  And it looks like Jake bundled a message for his parents…and an encrypted file from Lord Regent No’dan for me.  Just routine.”

“Well, it was nice to hear from her,” Russ said, rising to his feet.  Dorn stayed put.

“Anything from Remilia?”

“Not in here.  Maybe you should check your messages when you get home,” Vulkan said, standing as well.

“I shall.”  Dorn heaved himself up.  “Well.  I’ll deliver the files and head for home.  Thank you for your hospitality and the update, Brother.”

“Certainly.  See you at the Palace,” Vulkan said, opening his own transcriptor to compose his reply.

George Seager set his tablet down with a proud smile.  “I’m glad he’s having fun.”

“Yeah.  I wish I could visit Nocturne,” Sandra said, rereading the message.  “Did you see these pictures of Venus he attached?”

“Yes I did,” George said.  He glanced over the pictures of Venus in her uniform and giving the speech.  “Jacob’s got a good eye,” he quipped.

“Any idea when we’ll hear from him again?” Sandra asked.

George shrugged.  “Hard to say, really.  Warp communication is unpredictable.  Probably in another few weeks.”

Sandra looked at his message on the screen.  “Can we send a reply?  I’ve never had to use Astropathy before.”

“We can, but it would be very expensive.  Unless we want to bundle a message with Lord Vulkan’s reply.”  George hesitated.  “We could ask him.”


Vulkan finished his reply and transcripted it.  After attaching a few last words on his various niece’s activities, he encrypted the message and prepared to send it.  His vox buzzed just as he was about to send the message.  The caller ID said that it was Jake’s home line.  Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, he tapped the speakerphone button.  “Hello?”

“Hello, Lord Vulkan, this is George Seager.  Thanks for forwarding that message from Jake,” a somewhat nervous voice on the other side said.

“Ah, yes, glad you got it.  Did you want to reply?  I was about to bundle a message of my own,” Vulkan said.

“I would be very appreciative, sir, yes.  Should I just send it over?”

“Please do.  How is he doing?” Vulkan asked.

“He’s happy as a clam, from what he’s said.  Venus looks amazing in those pictures,” George said.  Vulkan’s slate beeped as George’s message appeared.  “May I ask what exactly she is to Nocturne?  I’m not completely clear.  She never made mention of it around us.”

“She is the Crown Princess.”  The line went silent as George digested that.

“I see.  So…what exactly does that make Jake?” George hesitantly asked.

“Nothing.  She chooses whether to bestow a title upon him.  Which she won’t until after college.”  Vulkan smiled.  “Why?”

“Because, sir, off the top of my head, I can’t recall Venus even tangentially discussing the subject when she was here,” George said.

“Mmm.”  The message finished its load and compressed.  “All right, I have your message, Sieur Seager.  Talk to you when the next message arrives.”

“Thank you very much, sir.  I’ll speak to you then.  Goodbye.”